Linda McDowell: Complex Geographies that Matter

Linda McDowell has been in the forefront of the fusion of a range of different factors in the regulation of employment and the success or otherwise of individuals. These include gender, class and ethnicity, and McDowell shows how they interweave and in particular the difficulties that women face. There are many traditional examples, including investment banking, long a masculine preserve. Nevertheless, there is clear evidence of progress, in that women are playing increasing roles. But does this apply to newer occupations such as the creative industries? My research, influenced by McDowell, shows that socialization in and out of work is very important in these newer industries for information exchange, collaboration and acceptance into the prevailing culture. This presents new problems for some women, for example those with family commitments, or from less-privileged backgrounds or even because they are deemed not to ‘fit in’. McDowell gives another example: migrant women, often discriminated against because of their birthplace and undervalued because of their gender: a double jeopardy. Events outside an individual’s control can be important. I have studied the rapid transition to a middle-class area of a previously deprived region of East London as one result of the 2012 Olympic Games. The expected benefits to the residents did not materialize, leaving them excluded so that islands of deprivation continued to exist within a more prosperous society. McDowell’s wide and comprehensive view of the way that social and geographic factors influence patterns of employment has been groundbreaking and offers sign-posts for future research.